Military's sex scandals 'shameful'

By Sig Christenson :
May 16, 2013
: Updated: May 17, 2013 10:01am

President Obama, calling sexual assaults in the armed forces “shameful and disgraceful,” on Thursday backed reforms to limit the authority of commanders to overturn convictions, but he said far more needs to be done.

Pointing to congressional legislation and a review of how other countries handle sexual assaults, the president vowed to “explore every good idea that's out there to fix this problem.”

Obama didn't embrace one of the most contentious proposals, one resisted by the Pentagon — taking away commanders' decision-making authority for deciding when to order courts-martial in sexual misconduct cases.

“The issue of sexual assault in our armed forces undermines that trust. So not only is it a crime, not only is it shameful and disgraceful, but it also is going to make and has made the military less effective than it can be,” he said.

“And as such, it is dangerous to our national security. So this is not a sideshow. This is not sort of a second-order problem that we're experiencing. This goes to the heart and the core of who we are and how effective we're going to be.”

Obama made his comments after discussing the problem with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The White House meeting came days after the Army said a Fort Hood NCO was under investigation for sexual assault and promoting prostitution. And just last week, the head of the Air Force sexual assault-prevention office was arrested in Arlington, Va., after a woman accused him of groping her.

The revelations, coupled with a sex scandal at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland that has become the worst in Air Force history, have been blasted in congressional hearings and sparked a firestorm indignation in Washington.

“I think he's just responding to the political pressure,” said retired Col. Morris Davis, a Howard University law professor who led the Air Force's judiciary from 2007-08. “This has boiled up and reached the critical point.”

The head of the Joint Chiefs, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, told reporters before meeting with Obama that sex assaults had become a crisis. He said a rise in rapes, suicides, misconduct and poor discipline were related in some way to a decade of war, the American Forces Press Service reported.

“We're losing the confidence of the women who serve that we can solve this problem,” Dempsey said during a flight from Europe to Washington. “That's a crisis.”

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno sent a message of his own, telling soldiers the service “is failing in its efforts to combat sexual assault and sexual harassment. It is time we take on the fight against sexual assault and sexual harassment as our primary mission.”

Obama struck a similar theme, telling reporters at the White House he wasn't sure “we've incentivized some of our top people to understand this is as core to our mission as anything else. And we've got to reward them, not think of this as a sideline for anything else that they do, but incentivize ambitious folks in the ranks to make sure that they understand this is important.”

The president said Hagel, Dempsey and the chiefs were angry and ashamed. He directed them to head a process to find solutions and ensure accountability for enforcing existing law and effectively training military personnel.

The Washington Post reported that in a brief appearance after the session Obama said sex crimes in the military are dangerous to national security and pledged to work with Congress on legislation to address the issue.

The Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act would create an independent office run by civilian and military experts who would review cases. A director would decide when to prosecute, not commanders, as military law has long required.

A chief proponent of the STOP Act, which has languished since it was introduced by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., in November 2011, said she saw a glimmer of hope in the president's remarks.

“There seems to be momentum,” said Nancy Parrish, founder of the advocacy group Protect Our Defenders. “More members of the House and Senate are taking a stand on the issue. I have begun to let myself be hopeful that some variation of the STOP Act will become law.”

At Fort Hood, the soldier under investigation for sex crimes, Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Mc-Queen, hired veteran defense lawyer Joseph Jordan, a former Army prosecutor in Korea and Fort Hood. McQueen is being investigated for pandering, abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates.

Jordan, a Killeen attorney who defended a Lackland basic training instructor sent to prison last February for sexual misconduct, said media reports have called his client a sexual assault counselor at Fort Hood when he actually took victims' initial reports.

He expressed concern that the controversy could influence the Army's investigation of McQueen. “The exposure on this issue may cloud some individuals' judgment, and I hope that doesn't happen,” he said.